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HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

AND 

LOCAL NAMES 

OF THE 

NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

BY 

O. H. MARSHALL, 

An edition of lOO copies reprinted from advanced sheets of The Historical ff^ritin^s 
of Orsamus H. Marsha//. 



i ->■ ^7 





THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

EJIBRACING SKETCHES OF ITS EARLY HISTORY, AND INDIAN, 
FRENCH AND ENGLISH LOCAL NAMES.^ 

AMES CARTIER, while exploring the Gulf of 
, St. Lawrence in 1535, was informed by the 
savages, living on its borders, that a mighty 
river, which they called Hochelaga, flowed into the sea 
near by, from a vast distance in the interior.- Having 
discovered its mouth, he explored the stream as far as the 
site of the present city of Montreal. He inquired of the 
Indians whom he met on the way, touching the source of 
that great river and the country through which it flowed. 
He was told, that after ascending many leagues among 
rapids and water-falls he would reach a lake, one hundred 
and fifty leagues long and forty or fifty broad, at the 
western extremity of which the waters were wholesome 
and the winters mild ; that a river emptied into it from 
the south, which had its source in the country of the 
Iroquois; that beyond this lake he would find a cataract 



^ Read before the Buffalo Historical Society, February 27, 1865. 
^ Lescarbot, p. 300. .' ,^ 



2 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 

c!nd portage; then another lake about equal to the former, 
which they had never explored ; and, still further on, a 
sea, the western shores of which they had never seen, nor 
had they heard of any one who had. 

This is the earliest historical notice of our great lake 
region.^ 

Cartier was followed, after a long interval, by French 
traders, adventurers and missionaries ; who, stimulated by 
love of adventure or the attractions of the fur trade, or 
inspired by religious zeal, were the first to penetrate the 
Canadian wilderness, and encounter the privations and 
dangers incident to the exploration of the vast interior 
of North America. 

Before the Pilgrims landed in New England, Champlain 
had wintered amons; the savaares on the eastern shore of 
Lake Huron, and had crossed Lake Ontario with an expe- 
dition against the Iroquois in the central part of our 
State.2 

As one after another of the prmcipal lakes and rivers 
of the New World were discovered, they were called in 
honor of some tutelary saint or patron, some king or 
noble. The early travelers not only rejected their abor- 
iginal names, but, in many instances, failed even to 
mention them. The series of lakes on our northern bor- 
der, were originally considered as expansions of one 
continuous river, called by the old geographers Saint 



^ Lescarhot, p. 381. 

=* Voyages de Champlain, Part i, p. 2^1. Edition of 1632. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 3 

Lawrence, in honor of the martyr, on the day of whose 
festival the noble gulf at its outlet was discovered. 

During the three centuries which have elapsed since 
that event took place, two distinct races have successively 
occupied and disappeared from this locality, now in the 
undisputable possession of a third. 

The traveler in the classic regions of the Old W^orld, 
encounters, at every step, venerable monuments and 
crumbling ruins; silent but elegant memorials of those 
who have risen, flourished, and disappeared in the revo- 
lutions of time. The Indian, once lord of this New World, 
now a tenant at the will of the white man, was skilled in 
none but the rudest arts. He roamed, a child of nature, 
over the forest and prairie, absorbed in his ceaseless strug- 
gle for a precarious subsistence on the fruits of the chase. 
He built no monuments -and has left no records, from 
which we may learn the story of his origin, his migrations, 
his bloody wars and fruitless conquests. The only light 
which shines upon its annals, is, at best, a dim and shad- 
owy tradition. Scarce a memorial of his former occupancy 
remains, save the names he has bestowed upon the lakes, 
rivers and prominent landmarks of the country. The 
Iroquois dialects still live in their melodious geographical 
terms, suggesting a sad contrast between their former 
proud and extensive dominion and their present feeble 
and reduced condition. 

There is no satisfactory evidence of the existence, in 
this vicinity, of a race preceding the Indians. The 



4 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

''mound-builders," that mysterious people who once spread 
in countless multitudes over the valleys of the Ohio, the 
Mississippi, and their tributaries, never, so far as diligent 
research has been able to discover, dwelt in this locality. 
The ancient fortifications, tumuli, and artificial structures 
that abound in Western New York, can all be referred to a 
later date and a more modern race. But at what precise 
period, and by what particular people they were con- 
structed, are questions which have hitherto eluded the 
most dilisfent historical research. The Senecas are 
equally ignorant on this subject. The venerable Seneca 
White, a distinguished Iroquois chief residing on the Cat- 
taraugus Reservation, now eighty-one years old,^ ex- 
pressed his curiosity on the subject, in a recent inter- 
view with the writer ; and desired to know when, why 
and by whom those structures had been built. Many of 
them may yet be seen wdthin a few miles of our city, 
and are certainly objects of historical interest and specula- 
tion. 

Omitting, therefore, from necessity, any notice of the 
race, of whom those remains are the only memorial, we 
find that the first in this locality, of wbom history makes 
mention, were the Attiouandaronk, or Neutral Nation, 
called Kah-kwas by the Senecas.^ They had their coun- 



' He died since the above was written, on the 19th May, 1873. — 
Ed. 

^ It has been assumed by many writers that the Kah-kwas and 
Eries were identical. This is not so. The latter, according to the 
most reliable authorities, lived south of the western extremity of 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 5 

cil-fires along the Niagara, but principally on its western 
side. Their hunting grounds extended from the Genesee 
nearly to the eastern shores of Lake Huron, embracing a 
wide and important territory. In this region, now teem- 
ing with Anglo-Saxon life, they reared their rude wig- 
wams, pursued their game, and preserved a rigid and sing- 
ular neutrality between the fierce tribes that waged their 
bloody wars on all sides around them. They are first 
m^entioned by Champlain during his winter visit to the 
Hurons in 1615, before alluded to. but he was unable to 
visit their territory. According to the early Jesuits, they 
excelled the Hurons in stature, strength and symmetry, 
and wore their dress with a superior grace. They re- 
garded their dead with peculiar veneration. Once in every 
ten years the survivors of each family gathered the remains 
of their deceased ancestors from the platforms on which 
they had been deposited, and buried them in heaps, with 
many superstitious ceremonies. This was called the 
" Feast of the Dead." Many of the mounds thus raised 
may still be seen in this vicinity. A conspicuous one on 
Tonawanda Island, is affirmed by the old Senecas to have 
had such an origin. The land of the Neutral Nation is 
described by the Jesuits as producing an abundance of 
corn, beans, and other vegetables ; their rivers as abound- 



Lake Erie until they were destroyed by the Iroquois, in 1055. The 
Kah-kwas were exterminated by them as early as 1651. On Coro- 
nelli's map, published in 1688, one of *he villages of the latter, 
called " Kakouagoga, a destroyed nation^^ is located at or near the 
site of Buffalo. 



6 THE NIA GAR A FB ONTIER. 

ing in fish of endless variety, and their forests as filled 
with a profusion of game, yielding the richest furs. 

The peace which this peculiar people had so long main- 
tained with the Iroquois was destined to be broken. Some 
jealousies and collisions occurred in 1647, which culmi- 
nated in open war in 1650. Oiie of the village,^ of the 
Neutral Nation, nearest the Senecas and not far from the 
site of our city, was captured in the autumn of the latter 
year, and another the ensuing spring. ■• So well directed 
and energetic were the blows of the Iroquois, that the 
total destruction of the Neutral Nation was speedily ac- 
complished. All the old men and children who were un- 
able to follow their captors, were put to death ; but the 
women were reserved to supply the waste occasioned by 
the war. The survivors were adopted by their conquer- 
ors ; and, as late as 1669, a small remnant was found by 
the Jesuit, Father Frerain, living within the limits of the 
present county of Ontario. 

Such were the predecessors of the Senecas. A little 
more than two centuries have elapsed since they lived and 
flourished in this locality, and no evidence of their occu- 
pancy now exists, save the rude mounds which mark their 
final resting places. Scarce a trace of their language re- 
mains, and we know only that they spoke a dialect 
kindred to that of the Senecas. Blotted out from among 
the nations, they have left one conspicuous and enduring 



' Relation des Jesuites, 1651, p. 4. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 7 

memorial of their existence, in the name of the beautiful 
and noble river that divides their ancient domain.^ 

A long period intervened between the destruction of 
the Neutral Nation and the permanent occupation of their 
country by the Senecas. For more than a century, this 
beautiful region was abandoned to the undisturbed domin- 
ion of nature, save when traversed by the warrior on his 
predatory errand or the hunter in pursuit of game. A 
dense and unexplored wilderness extended from the Gene- 
see to the Niagara ; with but here and there an interval, 
where the oak openings let in the sunlight, or the prairie 
lured the deer and the elk to crop its luxuriant herbage. 

The Senecas continued to live east of the Genesee, in 
four principal villages, until the year 1687, when the Mar- 
quis De Nonville, then Governor of Canada, invaded their 
30untry with a powerful army ; and, after defeating them 
near the site of Victor, in Ontario County, drove them 
from their burning villages and laid waste their territo- 
ries.^ The humbled Senecas, influenced by superstition, 
never built a solitary cabin. Their abandoned homes 
long bore witness to that most disastrous era in the history 
of the confederacy. We next find them in scattered vil- 
lages on the banks of their favorite Je-nis'-hi-yuh ; ^ in the 



' See " Last of the Kah-Kwas," Vol. I, p. 43.— Ed. 

'N. Y. Historical CoUectious, second series, Vol. II, p. 180. 

^ Or Genesee, signifying beautiful, pleasant valley. The key to 
the pronunciation of the Seneca names will be found in the Appen- 



dix. 

86 



8 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER. 

fertile valley of which they resumed the cultivation of 
the maize, and recovered, in some degree, their former 
power and influence. 

During the Revolutionary war they espoused the Brit- 
ish cause. The atrocities they committed in their savage 
mode of warfare, culminated in 1 778 in the memorable mas- 
sacre at Wyoming ; and induced General Washington, in 
imitation of De Nonville, to send an army for their 
chastisement. The famous expedition under General Sul- 
livan was organized for this purpose in 1779 ; which, pene- 
trating the heart of the Seneca country, resulted, for the 
time being, in their overthrow and complete dispersion. 
The proud and formidable nation tied, panic-stricken, from 
their " pleasant valley," abandoned their villages, and 
sought British protection under the guns of Fort Niagara. 
They never, as a nation, resumed their ancient seats along 
the Genesee, but sought and found a new home on the 
secluded banks and atnong the basswood forests of the 
Do'-syo-wa, or Buffalo Greek, whence they had driven the 
Neutral Nation one hundred and thirty years before. 

I have thus, with as much brevity as the nature of my 
subject would admit, noticed the aboriginal races that 
preceded us in the occupancy of this region. I consider 
this as an appropriate introduction to a historical sketch of 
the most prominent localities on the Niagara frontier, 
and of the various names by which they have been 
known. 

On the sixth day of December, 1678, a brigantine of ten 
tons, doubled the point where Fort Niagara now stands. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 9 

and anchored in the sheltered waters of the river.^ It had 
been sent at that inclement season from Fort Froutenac, 
now Kingston, by the Sieur De la Salle, in prosecution of 
the bold enterprises conceived by the intrepid discoverer, 
inv<)lving the exploration of a vast and unknown couutry, 
in vessels built on the way. The crew CDnsisted of six- 
teen persons, under the command of the Sieur De la Mott. 
*^ Te Deum laudamus ! " arose from the deck of the vessel, 
as it entered the noble river. The strains of that ancient 
hymn of the church as they echoed from shore and forest, 
must have startled the watchful Senecas as they gazed 
"upon their strange visitors. Never before hud white man, 
so far as history tells us ascended the river. Oa its borders, 
the roving Indian still contended for supremacy with the 
scarce wilder beasts of the forest. All was yet primitive 
and unexplored. Dense woods overhung the banks, except 
at the site of the present fort, or at the Indian village oppo- 
site, where a few temporary cabins sheltered some fishing- 
parties of the Senecas. The stream in which the French 
were now anchored, they called by its Indian name, 
Niagara. It is the oldest of all the local geographical terms 
which have come down to us from the aborio;ines. It was 
not at first thus written by the English ; for with them it 
passed through almost every possible alphabetical varia- 
tion before its present orthography was established.^ We 



' Hennepin, p. 74, Edition of 1698. 

' Thirty-nine different modes of spelling Niagara are enumerated 
by Dr. O'Callaghan, N. Y. Colonial Documents, Index Volume, p, 
465. 



10 THE NIA GAR A FRONTIER. 

find its germ in the On gui-aah-ra of the Neutral Nation, 
as given by Father L'AUemant, in a letter dated in 1641, 
at the mission-station of Sainte Marie, on Lake Huron. 
In describing his visit to that people, he says : " From 
their first village, which is about forty leagues southerly 
from Sainte Marie, it is four days travel in a south-east- 
erly direction, to where the celebrated river of the Neu- 
tral Nation empties into Lake Ontario. On the west and 
not on the eastern side of said river, are the principal 
villages of that nation. There are three or four on the 
eastern side, extending from east to west toward the Fries 
or Cat Nation. This river," he adds, " is that by which 
our great lake of the Hurons is discharged, after having 
emptied into Lake Erie, or Lake of the Cat Nation, and 
it takes the name of On-gui aah-ia, until it empties into 
Ontario or St. Louis Lake.^ 

The name of the river next occurs on Sanson's map of 
Canada, published in Paris in 1656, where it is spelled 
"Ongiara." Its first appearance as Niagara, is on Coro- 
nelli's map, published in Paris in 1688. From that time 
to the present, the French have been consistent in their 
orthography, the numerous variations alluded to, occur- 
ing only among English writers. The word was probably 
derived from the Mohawks, through whom the French 
had their first intercourse with the Iroquois. The Mo- 
hawks pronounce it Nyah'-ga-raA', with the primary ac- 
cent on the first syllable, and the secondary on the last. 
Some controversy has existed concerning its signification. 



'Relation, 1641, p. 71. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. H 

It is probably the same both in the Neutral and Mo- 
hawk languages, as they were kindred dialects of one 
generic tongue. The Moliawks affirm it to mean neck, in 
allusion to its connecting the two lakes. The correspond- 
ing Seneca name, Nya/<'-gaa^,^ was alwaj^s confined by 
the Iroquois to the section of the river below the Falls, 
and to Lake Ontario. That portion of the river above the 
Falls^ being sometimes called Gai-gwaa7i-ge/i, — one of their 
names for Lake Erie. 

The name Niagara was sometimes applied, by the early 
historians, not only to the river, but to a defensive work 
and group of Indian cabins, which stood at or near the 
site of the present village of Lewiston. La Salle con- 
structed, at this point, a cabin of palisades to serve as a 
magazine or storehouse. In order to allay the jealousies 
which the work excited among the Senecas, he sent an 
embassy to Tegarondies, the principal village of the con- 
federacy, then located on what is now known as Boughton 
Hill, near Victor, in Ontario C )unty. They reached it 
in five days, after a march in mid-winter of thirty-two 
leagues on snowshoes, during which they subsisted only 
on parched corn. There they found the Jesuits, Gamier 
and Raffeix, who had been resident missionaries since 1669. 
A council was held with the Senecas, and presents inter- 
changed, but without favorable result. The French re- 
traced their steps to their camp on the river, worn out 



^ The signification of tliis Seneca word is lost. It is probably de- 
rived fron± the name conferred by the Neutral Nation. 

' N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. V., p. 800, and IX., p. 999. 



12 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER. 

with the hardships of the way, and ghid to exchange their 
meagre diet for the delicious white-fish just then in season.-' 

No regular defensive work was constructed in the vicin- 
ity, until the Marquis De Nonville, on his return from the 
expedition before alluded to, fortified the tongue of land 
which lies between the lake and river, and thus founded 
the present fort. The French General describes the posi- 
tion as " the most beautiful, pleasing and advantageous 
on the whole lake." As early as 1686, he had proposed 
to his Government to erect a stone structure at this point, 
sufficient for a garrison of five hundred men, but received 
no favorable response. Many difficulties were en- 
countered in the erection of the new fortress. As the 
place was barren of suitable wood, palisades were cut at a 
distance, floated to the adjacent beach, and drawn up, 
with great labor, to the top of the bank. The work was 
finally completed, and called, afcer its founder, Fort De 
Nonville. It subsequently appears on some of the maps 
as Fort Conty, after a prince of that name, who was a 
patron of Tonti, one of La Salle's companions ; but Niag- 
ara soon became its exclusive and more appropriate desig- 
nation. De Nonville left in the fort a garrison of one 
hundred men, who were compelled by sickness to abandon 
it the following season, after having partially destroyed it. 
They left many of its buildings in a habitable condition, 
as may be learned from a curious inventory and statement 



' For a detailed account of this expedition, by the same author, 
see Vol. I., p. 260.— Ed. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. \ 3 

drawn up at the time of the evacuation.^ No measures ap- 
pear to have been taken for its reconstruction until 1725 ; 
when, by consent of the Iroquois, it was commenced in 
stone, and finished the following year. The " old mess- 
house " is a relic of that year. 

The French having, through the influence of Joncaire, 
obtained the consent of the Senecas, rebuilt their store 
house at Lewiston, in 1719-20. It formed a block-house 
forty feet long, by thirty wide, enclosed with palisades, 
musket proof, and pierced with port-holes. Around this 
nucleus gathered a cluster of ten Seneca cabins ; and 
patches of corn, beans, squashes and melons were soon 
under cultivation. Father Charlevoix visited the spot in 
1721, while on his extensive tour along the lakes ; and 
has left quite an exaggerated description of the ridge at 
Lewiston, which he calls "a frightful mountain, that hides 
itself in the clouds, on which the Titans might attempt to 
scale the heavens ! " ^ 

The block-house must have soon fallen to decay, for we 
find Louis XV. proposing to rebuild it in 1727,^ but the 
project was abandoned the next year. 

This locality was always considered an important point 
in the early history of the Niagara frontier. Here was 
the commencement of the portage around the Falls, where 
all the goods in process of transportation between the lakes 



1 K Y. Colonial Documents, Vol, IX , p. 386. 

•^ Charlevoix's Journal, Vol. II., p. 345. 

* N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. IX., p. 964. 



14 . THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

underwent transhipment. The traveled road pursued, as 
now, a zig-zag course up the mountain ridge ; but the 
heavy goods were raised or lowered in a sliding car or 
cradle, moved on an inclined plane by a windlass. The 
remains of the old tram-v.'ay were visible at a late period, 
and, possibly, may still be seen. The ascent of the ledge 
at this pomt v/as so difficult, that long before the railway 
was constructed, the Senecas called it Du/V-jih-he-V-oh, 
which signifies, literally, loaJlchuj on all fours-, in allusion 
to the postures assumed by the French and Indians while 
climbing the steep acclivity under their heavy burdens. 
Hennepin calls it " the three mountains," trois montagnes^ 
referring to the high river-bank and the two terraces 
above it, which form the mountain ridge. When Kalm 
arrived there in 1750, he found one of the Joncaires still 
a resident. Over two hundred Senecas were then em- 
ployed in carrying furs over the portage, at the rate of 
twenty pence a pack for the entire distance.^ There were 
three warehouses at the foot of the ridge in 1759, and 
one at its summit ; all used for storing the goods in 
transitu. 

Opposite Fort Niagara, on the Canada side of the river, 
is Mississauga Point, so called after one of the Algonkin 
tribes that formerly resided in the vicinity."^ The present 



^ Hennepin, p. 113. Edition 1698. 

" Kalm's letter in Annual Register, Vol. II., p. 389, 

' An Indian village existed here at the time of La Salle's first visit 
in 1679. 



THE NIA GA RA FR ONTIER. \ 5 

village of Niagara was known in 1780, by the name of 
Butlersbury, after Colonel Butler, of Wyoming notoriety,^ 
It was afterward called Newark, after the place of that 
name in New .Jersey, and West Niagara and British 
Niagara. In 179-2, it became the residence of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Canada, and in the autumn of that 
year, the first session of the Parliament of the Upper Pro- 
vince was held there. It is an older settlement than any 
on the eastern side of the river, and boasted a weekly 
newspaper as early as 1793.^ About one mile above 
Newark, a defensive work was built by the British, at 
the close of the last century, called Fort George. Be- 
tween this and the river was a storehouse, bearing the 
high sounding name of Navy Hall ; and near the latter 
stood the residence of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe. 

Queenston, so called in honor of Queen Charlotte, 
had no earlier name, though the locality was frequently 
noticed by the first explorers. Hennepin speaks of it as 
" the great rock," la grosse roche^ referring to an immense 
mass, which, becoming detached from the brow of the 
mountain, had fallen into the river below. It is now 
plainly visible under the western end of the lower suspen- 
sion bridge. 



^ Gilbert's narrative, p. 52. Col. Butler died in 1796. Merritt's 
MS. 

' Called the Upper Canada Gazette, or, American Oracle. The 
first number appeared April 18, 1793. 

^ Hennepin, p. 113. Edition 1698. 
37 



16 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

The Devil's Hole and the Whirlpool are not noticed by 
any of the early travelers- The former is more partic- 
ularly celebrated ns the scene of a well known blood}^ 
tragedy, in 1763. Its Seneca name, Dyus-d^'-nya/i-goh, 
signifies, the cleft rochs} The Bloody* Run, which falls 
over the precipice at this point, derives its present name 
from the same tragic occurrence, though the Indians have 
no term to distinguish it from the Devil's Hole. Their 
name for the whirlpool, Dyu-no'-wa-da-se', means, literally, 
the current goes round. 

It has already been stated, that the Indians, whom 
Cartier met in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1535, alluded, 
in their description of the interior of the continent, to a 
" cataract and portage," at the western extremity of Lake 
Ontario, This is the first historical notice of Niagara 
Falls. Seventy-eight years afterward, Champlain pub- 
lished an account of his vo3^ages in Canada, illustrated by 
a, map of the country, on which the several lakes, as far 
west as Lake Huron, are laid down, though in very er- 
roneous outline.^ It distinctly shows the river Niagara, 
interrupted by a waterfall, and intersected by an elevation 
of land, answering to the mountain ridge at Lewiston. 
It contains no specific name for the cataract, but calls it 
saut d'eau, or waterfall. Champlain describes it as " so 
very high that many kinds of fish are stunned in its de- 
scent ! 



^ The river-bank is cleft by the action of the Bloody Run. 
' Edition of 1632. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 17 

The next notice of the cataract is by the Jesuit, Father 
Ragueneau, who, in a letter to the Superior of the Mis- 
sions at Paris, dated in 1648, says, " North of the Eries 
is a great hike, about two hundred leagues in circumfer- 
ence, called Erie, formed by the discharge of the mer-douce, 
or Lake Huron, and which falls into a third lake, called 
Ontario, over a cataract of frightful height."^ 

Hennepin is the first who published a detailed descrip- 
tion of this remarkable waterfall. He first saw it in the 
winter of 1678-9, and accompanies his description by an 
engraved sketch,^ evidently drawn from memory, as it em- 
braces a bird's-eye view of the whole river, as far as Lake • 
Erie, with the Griffon in the distance. The two falls, with 
Goat Island between, and Table Rock, are very well de- 
lineated, though the height is much exaggerated. A 
group of Frenchmen, viewing the cataract from the Ame- 
rican side, are represented as stopping their ears to shut 
out the deafening sound. 

No doubt the Falls were visited at an earlier date by 
numerous traders and voyageurs, but no record of the fact 
exists. The Niagara was not a favorite route to the far 
west, the Ottawa being shorter and safer for a canoe 
voyage ; an easy portage connecting its head-waters with 
Lake Huron. The fatiguing transit around the Falls, and 
the hostility of the warlike Iroquois, were formidable 
obstacles to the more southern course. 



' Jesuit Relations, 1648, p. 46 

' Hennepin, p. 116. Edition of 1698, 



18 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

The Senecas call the cataract, Det-ga^-skoh-ses, signify- 
ing the place of the high fall. They never call it Niagara, 
nor by any similar terra ; neither does that word signify 
in their language thunder of waters, as affirmed by School- 
craft.^ Such a meaning would be eminently poetic, but 
truth is of higher importance. 

The picturesque Islands which add so much to the 
beauty and unrivaled scenery of the Falls, must have 
challenged the admiration and stimulated the curiosity of 
the early visitor. Equally attractive at all seasons, 
whether arrayed in summer verdure, autumnal tints or 
winter dress,^ they reposed like fairy creations, amid the 
turmoil of the impetuous rapids, isolated and apparently 
secure from human intrusion or profanation. Traditions 
exist of early Indian visits to the larger one, which are 
confirmed by a deposit of human bones discovered near its 
head. The access was from the river above, through the 
still water between the divided currents. Judge Porter 
first landed there in 1806, and found several dates carved 
oil a beech, the earliest of which was 1769. He purchased 
the entire group from the State in 1816, and during the 
foUowirkg yQV.Y, built the first bridge which connected them 
with the main land. Stedman had cleared a small field 



' Tour to tlie Lakes, p. 32. 

'^ Those who visit Niagara in summer only, see but half its beauties. 
In winter, the spray, congealed by frost on every tree, bush and rock, 
glitters with diamond luster in the sunlight ; while, in the gulf 
below, cones, pyramids and towers, immense stalactites and frost- 
work in every variety of form, are produced by the falling waters. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 19 

near the upper end of the largest, and colonized it with a 
i^vf animals, including a venerable goat. The latter was 
the only survivor of the severe winter of 1779-80, in com- 
memoration of wliich the island received its present name. 
The Boundary Commissioners under the Treaty of Ghent, 
gave to it the more poetic title, Iris Island, but the earlier 
one was destined to prevail. 

Judge Porter was one of the earliest settlers at the Falls, 
having erected his first dwelling there in 1809-10. He 
foresaw the unrivaled advantages of the position, and se- 
cured, at an early day, the fee of a large tract of land in 
the vicinity. In addition to his dwelling, he erected mills 
on the site where Lieutenant DePeyster built a saw-mill 
in 1767, and v/hich Stedman subsequently occupied for 
the same purpose. He also constructed a rope-walk for 
the manufacture of rigging, for Porter, Barton & Co.,^ who 
were then the principal carriers over the portage, and 
owned or controlled nearly all the trading vessels on the 
two lakes and river. All kinds of rigging, and cables 
of the largest size required, were here manufactured. 
Much of the hemp then used, was raised by the Wads- 
worths on the Genesee tiats. Such was the scarcity of 
men in the then new country, that the Judge was in- 
debted to Captain Armistead of Fort Niagara, for a com- 
pany of one hundred men, to assist him in raising the 
heavy frame of liis mill. It proved to be expensive aid, 
for the soldiers stripped his garden of all its fruit, then 

' This well known firm was comj^osed of Augustas Porter, Peter 
B. Porter, Benjamin Barton and Joseph Aunin. 



20 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

very fine and abundant. All his buildings, embracing 
dwelling, mills and rope walk, shared in the general con- 
flagration on the frontier in 1813. 

The village on the American side of the Falls, has been 
known as Grand Niagara and Manchester, and is now in- 
corporated under the name of Niagara Falls. 

Fort Schlosser was named after Capt. Joseph Schlosser, 
a native of Germany, who served in the British army in 
the campaign against Fort Niagara in 1759.^ Sir William 
Johnson found him at Schlosser in 1761. He must have 
remained until the autumn of 1763; for it is stated by 
LoskieP and Heckewelder, that he arrived at Philadelphia 
in January, 1764, having just returned from Niagara with 
a detachment from General Gage's army. Heckewelder 
pays a high tribute to his humanity and manly qualities.^ 

The earlier names of the post were, Fort du Portage, 
Little Fort and Little Niagara.^ It was not built until 
1750. In the summer of that year, the younger Chabert 
Joncaire, informed thS Senecas that the French govern- 
ment intended to build a fort at the south end of the 
portage above Niagara Falls. The project was carried 
into effect the same season, and we find that Joncaire 
Clauzonne, brother of Chabert, was appointed its com- 



' N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. X, p. 731, u. 5. 
^ Loskiel's Missions, p. 222. 
^ Heckewelder's Narrative, p. 83. 
* N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. VII, p. 621. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 2 1 

mandant.^ In 1755, it was called Fisher's Battery.^ 
When Sir William Johnson invested Fort Niagara in 1759, 
Chabert Joncaire seems to have been in command at Fort 
Schlosser, his brother Clauzonne being then with him. On 
the fall of the former fortress, Fort Schlosser was burnt, 
and its garrison was withdrawn to the Chippewa river, on 
the opposite side. It must have been speedily rebuilt by 
the British, for we find Captain Schlosser stationed there 
soon after in command of a garrison. The fort then con- 
sisted of an enclosure of upright palisades, protecting a few 
store-houses and barracks. Alexander Henry, who visited 
it in 17u4, calls it a " stockaded post."^ The pIou"-h has 
obliterated all traces of its existence, save some inequalities 
in the surface whore it stood, plainly visible from the 
neighboring railroad. The tall, antique chimney which 
rises from the adjacent buildings, is not, as generally 
supposed, a relic of the fort, but of barracks, constructed 
by the French, and destroyed by Joncaire, on his retreat 
in 1759. The same chimney was subsequently used by 
the English when they re-established the post. The dwell- 
ing they erected was afterwards occupied by Stedman, who 
was a contractor at the portage from 1760 until after the 
peace of 1783. He probably remained until after Fort 
Niagara was delivered to the United States by the British 
authorities in 1796, when he removed to the Canadian 
^^iJe. He left his " improvements " in charge of a m.an 



* Lewis Evans' map. 

^ N. Y. Col. Doc, Vo). VI, p. 608, 706. 

' Travels, p. 183. 



22 TBE NIA QARA FR ONTIEU. 

known as Jesse Ware. They are described by a visitor 
at that early day, as consisting of seventeen hundred acres, 
about one-tenth partially cleared, an indifferent dwelling, 
a fine barn, saw-mill, and a well fenced apple orchard con- 
taining twelve hundred trees/ 

There appear to have been three brothers by the name 
of Stedman — John, Philip and William. The traveler 
Maude found John at Schlosser in 1800. While master 
of the portage, he accompanied the wagons and tlieir 
escort, at the time of the massacre at the Devil's Hole in 
September, 1763, before alluded to. It was a return train, 
embracing about ninety persons, under the command of 
Lieutenant Don Campbell of the Royal American Regi- 
ment, which had been transporting supplies from Fort 
Niagara for the use of the garrison at Detroit. Only 
three persons escaped ; a drummer-boy, by the name of 
Matthews,^ who lodged in a tree as he fell over the preci- 
pice ; a wounded driver, vvdio lay concealed in some ever- 
greens near by ; and Stedman himself, who being well 
mounted, forced his way through the Indians and fled 
amid a shower of bullets, to Fort Schlosser. Two com- 
panies of troops that were stationed at Lewiston, hearing 
the firing, hastened to their relief. The wily Senecas, 
anticipating the reinforcement, lay in ambush, and all but 
eight of the party fell by the rifle or tomahawk. The 
entire garrison of Fort Niagara were then despatched to 
the scene, but arrived only to find the ghastly and mangled 



^ Voyage par Hector St. John, Vol. II, p. 153. 

" Matthews died in Canada, near Niagara, in 1821, aged 74. 



THM NIAGARA FRONTIEB. 23 

remains of their slaughtered comrades. The attack was 
made on the train while it was crossing the small bridge 
over Bloody Run, so called after the tragedy. 

The Seneca S ichem, John Blacksmith, informed the 
writer that the party which made the attack, were young 
warriors from the Genesee, who, instigated by the French 
traders, secretly organized the expedition under the leader- 
ship of Farmer's Brother, without the knowledge of their 
chiefs. Eighty scalps, including those of six oflBcers, were 
their bloody trophies. 

The Senecas, attributing the preservation of Stedman to 
some miraculous interposition, and believing that he wore 
a charmed life, conferred upon him the name of Ga-nas- 
squaA, signifying stone giant The story that they gave 
him all the land lying between the river and the line of 
his flight, embracing about five thousand acres, is undoubt- 
edly a fiction. The pretended grant was the foundation 
of the " Stedman claim," which was subsequently urged 
upon the State authorities with much pertinacity. If 
really made, it seems never to have been ratified by the 
Senecas, for at a formal treaty made with them by Sir 
William Johnson at Johnson Hall, in April of the follow- 
ing year, signed by Farmer's Brother and Old Smoke, it 
was not only not alluded to; but on the contrary, a strip 
of land four miles wide on the east side of the river, com- 
mencing at Lake Ontario and extending southerly to Gill 
Creek, embracing the entire Stedman claim, was ceded in 
perpetuity to his Britannic Majesty.' Stedman peti- 

' N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. VII, p. 621. 
38 



24 THE NIA GAR A FR ON TIER. 

tioned the Legislature in 1800, to confirm the pretended 
grant, but without success. He recites in his memorial, 
that he took possession of the premises in 1760, and soon 
after met with a great loss from the Indians ; that as a 
compensation therefor, the chiefs gave him a deed of the 
tract containing 4,983 acres, which he had continued to 
improve for forty years ; that the deed had perished with 
the papers of Sir William Johnson, which had been buried 
in an iron chest at Johnson Hall. A bill passed the 
Assembly, giving him the land he had actually improved, 
but it failed in the Senate. The buildings on the premises 
had suffered much from decay as early as 1800, and the 
adjacent fort was in ruins. The old orchard was still pro- 
ductive, the overplus yield bringing five hundred dollars 
in a single season; but the boys crossing from the Canada 
side, plundered most of the fruit. ^ 

The portage road commenced at the Lewiston landing, 
and followed the river until it reached the small depression 
just north of the present suspension bridge. Diverging 
from this, it intersected the river above the Falls, a short 
distance east of the Stedman house, and followed its bank 
for about forty rods to the fort above. Midway between 
the house and fort, were a dock, a warehouse, and a group 
of square-timbered, whitewashed log-cabins, used by the 
teamsters, boatmen and engagees connected with the 
portage.^ 



^ Maude's Niagara, p. 146. 

' Manuscript letter of Hon. A. S. Porter. 



THE NIA GA BA FR ON TIER. 2 5 

About half a mile below the Stedman house, near the 
head of the present hydraulic canal, is the old French 
landing, where goods were transhipped when only canoes 
were used, and where the portage road terminated before 
Fort Schlosser was built. Along the road, between the 
fort and Lewislon, block houses were erected about twelve 
hundred yards apart, to protect the teams from disasters 
such as had occurred at the Devil's Hole. The remains 
of some of these were quite recently in existence. 

Judge Porter leased the Stedman farm from the State 
in 1805, the agent Ware, being still in possession. He 
was ejected with some difficulty. Legal steps were taken, 
but owing to the unsettled state of the country, and the 
difficulty of executing process in a region so remote from 
civilization, recourse was had to " Judge Lynch," before 
possession was finally obtained.^ Judge Porter occupied 
the dwelling during the years 1806-7 and 8, when he re- 
moved to the Falls. He was succeeded by Enos Boughton, 
one of the first pioneers on the Holland Purchase, who 
opened a tavern for the accommodation of early visitors to 
the Falls, and travelers en route for the great west. It 
became the headquarters in all that region, for military 
musters, general trainings and Fourth of July celebrations. 
The buildings were destroyed by the British in December, 
1813; but the old chimney was suffered to remain, con- 
spicuous among the surrounding ruins, a weather beaten 
memorial of the ruthless desolation of war. 



^ Manuscript letter of Hon. A. S, Porter, 



26 THE NIA GARA FR ONTIER. 

Gill Creek, so named from its diminutive size, and called 
also Cayuga Creek,^ and Stedman's Creek, derives its only 
importance from being named as a boundary in some of 
the early Indian treaties.^ 

Chippewa Creek, nearly opposite Fort Schlosser, is called 
by the Senecas, Jo'- no-dak, signifying shallow water ; prob- 
ably referring to an old fording-place at the mouth of the 
creek. Pouchot, in his narrative of the siege of Fort 
Niagara, calls it Chenondac, evidently the same name, 
and describes its banks as abounding in fine timber, suit- 
able for ship-building.^ It was named Chippewa, after the 
Ojibway — otherwise called Mississauga — Indians, who for- 
merly lived on its banks. The Canadian government by 
proclamation in 1792, gave it the name of Welland River, 
but it did not pass into general use. The earliest notice 
of the stream is found in the narrative of Father Hennepin, 
who, while seeking a site suitable for building the Griffon, 
encamped on its banks in the winter of 1678-9. He says, 
" it runs from the west, and empties into the Niagara 
within a league above the great fall." He found the snow 
a foot deep, and was obliged to remove it before building 
his camp-fire. The narrative incidentally mentions the 
abundance of deer and wild turkeys that vveie found in 
the vicinity.^ 



^ Savary's Journal, p. 360. 

' Treaty at Canaudaigua in 1794. 

' Pouchot, Vol. Ill, p. 174. 

* Hennepin, p. 75. Edition of 1693. 



THE JSriA GABA FR ONTIER. 27 

The Seneca name for Navy Island, Ga-o'-go-wa/i-waa^, 
signifies The hig canoe island. This is in aUusion to the 
vessels built there by the French at an early day, for use 
on the lakes. Hence the French name Isle-la-Marine, and 
the English name. Navy Island. It contains about three 
hundred acres. A tradition still exists among the Senecas 
that a brass cannon was mounted on one of the vessels.^ 
It was there the French reinforcements arrived from Ve- 
nango for the relief of Fort Niagara, during its siege by 
Sir William Johnson. The English built two vessels on 
the island, in 1764, one of which was accidentally burned 
there in 1767. The island has since become celebrated, 
as the rendezvous of the Patriot forces during the Canadian 
rebellion of 1838. 

Grand Island is called by the Senecas, Ga-we'-not, signi- 
fying The Oreat Mand. It is mentioned by Hennepin 
under its present name." At its northern extremity, in a 
sheltered bay, the remains of two vessels may now be seen 
at low water, which, tradition says, belonged to the French, 
and were burnt at the time Fort Niagara capitulated, to 
prevent their falling into the hands of the English. This 
has given origin to the name Burnt Ship Bay, I have 
been unable, however, to find any historical verification of 
this tradition. Sir William Johnson, while on his way 
west, in August, 1761, encamped for the night on the 
west side of this island, at the mouth of a creek now called 



^ A brass six-pounder was placed on one of the British vessels 
in 1764. Governor Simcoe's manuscript letter to Colonel England. 

' Hennepin, p. 49. Edition of 1696. 



28 THE KIA GAR A FRONTIER. 

Six Mile Creek, which he describes as a fine position, 
affording an eligible situation for a house, and a good har- 
bor for boats. He called it Point Pleasant, — a name, the 
origin of which certainly entitles it to perpetuation. The 
Baronet makes special mention of the fine oaks with which 
the island abounded.^ 

Cayuga Creek was so named by the Senecas. In 
January, 1679, La Salle and his companions constructed 
a dock at its mouth, and laid the keel of the Griffon — the 
first vessel built on our western waters. The site chosen 
was just above the creek, close to the river bank.*^ 

In commemoration of the enterprise, the name of " La 
Salle " has been conferred upon the small village and post- 
office at this locality. The same site was selected by the 
United States government about the year 1804, for the 
construction of a small sloop of fifty tons burden, called 
the Niagara, which was used for conveying supplies to the 
western posts. The vessel was subsequently purchased by 
Porter, Barton & Co., re-built at Black Rock, and named 
the Nancy, after the wife of the late Benjamin Barton, one 
of the partners.^ While bearing the latter name she was 
commanded by Captain Richard O'Neil, and went out of 
commission just before the war of 1812. 



' Stone's Johnson, Vol. IT., p. 45. 

' A full account of the building of the Griffon, identifying the 
site, will be found ante p. 73. 

' Mrs. Barton was usually called Nancy, but her baptismal name 
was Agnes, 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 29 

Tonawanda Creek was so called by the Senecas, after 
the rapids at their village a few miles above its mouth, 
the name Ta-no'-wan-de/i signifying literally, a rough stream 
or current. The French called it, "La riviere aux bois 
blanc," or " whitewood river." On the early maps it is 
called Maskinongez, that being the Chippewa name for 
the muskelunge, a fish once abundant in the stream. 

The Senecas have a different name for Tonawanda Is- 
Icmd. They call it Ni-ga'-we-na/i--a-oh, signifying The 
Small Island. It contains less than one hundred acres. 
Its upper end having a fine elevation above the surface of 
the river, was an occasional camping ground of the Senecas, 
before their final settlement in this region. Philip Ken- 
jockety (hereafter more particularly noticed), claims to 
have been b )rn there, while his father's family, then resid- 
ing on the Genesee, were on one of their annual hunting 
expeditions. 

Two negro brothers lived at an early day, at the mouth 
of Cornelius Creek, just below Lower Black Rock. They 
were supposed to be runaway slaves. The elder was called 
by the Senecas, O-ga/i'-gwaa/i, signifying Sun Fish, on ac- 
count of a red spot in one of his eyes, resembling that in 
the eye of the fish. Hence they called the creek, O-ga/i'- 
gwaa^'-geh, the residence of Sun Fish. He was shrewd and 
intelligent ; became a trader in cattle with parties in Can- 
ada and at Fort Niagara ; chose a wife among the Seneca 
maidens, and acquired considerable property. The notori- 
ous Ebenezer Allen married one of his daughters, and 
added her to his extensive harem on the Genesee. The 



30 THE JSriA GABA FR ONTIEB. 

younger negro was called So-wak, or Duck. Both died 
more than half a century ago, leaving numerous descend- 
ants, some now living on the Tonawanda Reservation.^ 

Kenjockety Creek was not so named by the Senecas. 
They called it Ga-noh'-gwaAt-geh, after a peculiar kind of 
wild grass, that grew near its borders. " The name Ken- 
jockety," written in Seneca, Sg«-dyuh-gwa-dih, was given 
by the whites, after an Indian family they found living on 
its banks. Its literal signification is Beyond the multitude. 
John Kenjockety, the head of the family, was the son of a 
Kah-kwa, or Neutral Indian, whose father had been taken 
prisoner by the Senecas in the war which resulted in the 
extermination of his people. This occurred at the capture 
of one of the Kah-kwa villages, located on a branch of 
Eighteen Mile Creek, near White's Corners in this county. 
His family wigwams were on the north bank of Kenjock- 
ety Creek, a little east of the present Niagara street. 
They obtained their water for domestic use from the river, 
then fordable at low water to Squaw Island. The creek 
still retains among the whites the name they first gave it — 
the Senecas adhering to the more ancient designation. 
The old chief must have been a man of more than ordi- 
nary consideration among his people. The Rev. Mr. 
Kirkland mentions him in the journal of his tour to Buf- 
falo Creek in 1788. He writes his name "Skendyough- 
gwatti," and styles him " the second man of influence and 



' Life of Mary Jemison, pp. 124-129. Turner's Phelps & Gor 
ham's Purchase, p. 406. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 31 

character among the Senecas at Buffalloe."'- His name is 
appended to a letter addressed to Governor George Clinton 
in 1789, remonstrating against some unauthorized sale.s of 
Indian lands.^ The Hon. Augustus Porter, who surveyed 
the boundary line of the " Gore," between the Seneca Reser- 
vation and Lake Erie, stated to the writer that he was ac- 
companied during the survey " by an old Indian named 
Scaugh-juh-quatty," wlio had been appointed by the Sen- 
ecas to act with Red Jacket for that purpose. They indi- 
cated the edge of the swamp as the line for Judge Porter 
to follow, by preceding him from tree to tree, thereby 
carefully excluding what is called " the Tifft farm, " 
and the remainder of the '' Flats," as comparatively of no 
value. This will account for the zigzag course of the line 
in question. 

Kenjockety continued to reside on the creek, until about 
the commencement of the present century, cultivating his 
corn-field on Squaw Island, and drawing abundant subsist- 
ence for himself and fimily from the river and the forest. 
The survey of "Mile-strip" by the State authorities, and 
the arrival of the pioneers of Buffalo, disturbed his tranquil 
home, and compelled him to remove to the Reservation, 
where he finally settled on the bank of Buffalo Creek, near 
the present iron bridge. Becoming dissipated in his old 
age, he perished miserably by the roadside, from the effects 



^ Kirkland's MS. Journal in N. Y. State Library. 

' Hough's Indian Treaties, Vol. II., p. 331. 
39 



32 THE NIA a J HA FE OJSI TIEB. 

of intoxicatiott, while on his way home from Buffalo in 
October, 1808. 

Squaw Island was called by the Senecas De-dyo'-we-no'- 
ouh-doh, signifying adwidcdisland, referring to its division 
by the marshy creek known as " Smuggler's Run."^ It 
was presented by the Nation to Captain Parish, their fav- 
orite agent and interpreter, as an acknowledgment, says 
the record, of his many services in their behalf. The gift 
was ratified by the Legislature, in 1816, though the Captain 
was required to pay the State at the rate of two dollars per 
acre before he obtained his patent. He sold the island to 
Henry F, Penfield, Esq., in 1823. Captain Parish and his 
colleague. Captain Jones, had each previously obtained a 
donation of a mile square on the river, now known as 
the Jones and Parish Tracts, and lying within the present 
bounds of our city. The Legislature was induced to make 
this grant, by that touching and effective petition dictated 
by Farmer's Brother, which has so often been cited as a 
specimen of Indian eloquence.^ 

Bird Island was originally several feet above the river 
level ; rocky at its lower end, and partially covered with 
tall trees. Corn was cultivated on its upper end by Ken- 
jockety's father. The Island has entirely disappeared, the 
rock which composed it having been used in the construc- 
tion of the Black Ptock pier. Its Seneca name, Dyos-da-o- 

^ Philip Kenjockety stated to the writer that he has often passed 
through this creek in his canoe, on his way to Canada. 

' Copied in Turner's Holland Land Company Purchase, p. 291. 



THE NIA QA BA FR ONTIER. 3 3 

doh, signifies Rocky Island. It was called " Bird Island " 
by the whites because of the multitude of gulls and other 
aquatic birds that frequented it at certain seasons.^ 

Black Rock being a convenient crossing place on the 
Niagara, became an important locality at an early day. 
Its history has been fully illustrated in an able and inter- 
esting paper entitled " The Old Ferry," read before the 
Buffalo Historical Society by Charles D. Norton, Esq.^ 
Its Seneca name, Dyos-daa/<'-ga-e/i, signifying rochy hank, 
is a compound word, embracing also the idea of a place 
where the lake rests upon or against a rocky bank. Its 
English name comes from the dark corniferous limestone 
which outcrops at this locality, and, underljdng the bed 
of the river, composes the dangerous reef at the head of 
the rapids. 

Prior to the commencement of the present century, the 
usual route between Buffalo Creek and the Falls was on 
the Canada side, crossing at Black Rock The Rev. Sam- 
uel Kirkland traveled it in 1788, and the Duke of Lian- 
court in 1795. 

Fort Erie was originally built by Colonel Bradstreet. as 
a d^pot for provisions, while on his expedition against the 
Western Indians in the summer of 1764. It was located 
some distance below the modern fort. The part facing the 
river was built of stone, surmounted by squared pickets. 
The rest was stockaded. Bradstreet states in a letter to 



^ CamijbeH's Life of Clinton, p. 128. 
* See Vol. I., p. 91. 



34 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

General Amherst, still unpublished/ that " when he ar- 
rived at the locality he found no harbor. That vessels were 
coinpeiled to lie at anchor in the open lake, exposed to 
every storm, and liable to be lost. In addition to this, 
they were obliged to send more than twenty miles for their 
loading ; that on examining the north shore, he found a 
suitable place to secure the vessels by the help of a wharf 
just above the rapids." " A Post," he adds, "is now build- 
ing there, and all that can will be done toward finishing it 
this season." He further says, that ^ to avoid giving 
offence to the Senecas savages, to whom the land belongs, 
I have desired Sir William Johnson to ask it of them, and 
they have granted it." This letter is dated August 4, 
1764. The treaty between Sir William and the Senecas 
bears date two days after, at Fort Niagara, and cedes to 
His Majesty all the land, four miles wide, on each side of 
the river, between Fort Schlosser and the rapids of Lake 
Erie. The islands in the river were excepted by the 
Indians, and bestowed upon Sir William " as proof," says 
the record, " of their regard, and of their knowledge of the 
trouble he ha;j had with them from time to time." Sir 
William accepted the gift, but, like a good subject, humbly 
laid it as an offering at the feet of his sovereign.^ 

The foundations of the present fort were laid in 1791.^ 
It must have been a rude fortification, as originally con- 



^ Brad street's Manuscripts, N. Y. State Library. 
^ N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. VII., p. 647. 
^ Indian State Papers, Vol. I., p. 160. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 35 

structed, for the Duke of Liancourt describes it in 1795, 
as a cluster of buildings surrounded with rough, crazy 
palisades, destitute of ramparts, covered ways, or earth- 
works. Outside of the fort were a few log houses for the 
shelter of the officers, soldiers and workmen. There was 
also a large government warehouse, with an overhanging 
story pierced with loop-holes for the use of musketry.^ 
The stone portion, the ruins of which still remain, was 
built in 1806, in the form of a quadrangle, and subse- 
quentl}' enlarged to more formidable dimensions. The 
Indian name of the locality, Gai-gwaa/i-geA, signifies The 
place of hats. Seneca tradition relates, as its origin, that 
in olden time, soon after the first visit of the white man, 
a battle occurred on the lake between a party of French 
in batteaux and Indians in canoes. The latter were 
victorious, and the French boats were sunk and the crews 
drowned. Their hats floated ashore where the fort was 
subsequently built, and attracting the attention of the 
Indians from their novelty, they called the locality " the 
place of hats." 

In the summer of 1G87, the Baron La Hontan ascended, 
in his birchen canoe, the rapids of the Niagara into Lake 
Erie, on his way to the far West.^ Appreciating with 
military eye, this commanding locality, h3 rccammended 
it to the French Government as suitable for a fort, and 
marked it " Fort Suppose " an the map which illustrates 
his journal. This is the earliest historical notice of the 

^ Voyage par Liancourt., Vol. II., p. 4. 

^ La Hontan, English edition, Vol. I, p. 82. 



36 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER, 

site of Buffalo. No attention appears to have been paid 
to the recommendation, and for more than a century it 
remained in undisturbed repose, its soUtudes unbroken by 
the axe of the woodman, or the tread of advancing civil- 
ization. Voyage urs, traders and missionaries passed and re- 
passed on the river, but make no mention of even an Indian 
encampment. Nor does Sir William Johnson, who ascended 
the outlet into the lake on his way west in August, and 
returned in October, 1761.^ 

It has already been mentioned that the Senecas tied to 
Fort Niagara in 1779 before the invading forces of General 
Sullivan, and settled the following year on the baaks of 
the Buffalo Creek. A single survivor of that fugitive band 
is now living on the Cattaraugus Reservation, in the person 
of the venerable Phihp Kenjockety, a son of the John 
Kenjockety previously mentioned. When the writer saw 
him in June, 1864, he appeared strong and vigorous, being 
employed at the time in piling hemlock bark. His entire 
dress was a loose cotton shirt, and the customary Indian 
leggings. He presented a fine specimen of the native Indian 
of the old school, a class now almost extinct. He claimed to 
be one hundred years old, and a little examination into his 
personal history furnished proof of his correctness. It 
appeared that he was about fifteen at the time of Sullivan's 
expedition, and resided at Nunda, on the Genesee. He 
well remembered the flight of the Senecas on that occasion, 
when he drove a horse to Fort Niagara. The fugitives 
arrived there in the month of September, and remained 

^ Journal in Stone's Johnson, Vol. II., pp. 451 and 470. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 3 7 

in its neighborhood and under its protection during the 
following winter. The season was the most inclement 
known for many years ; so much so that the river opposite 
the fort was frozen from the seventh of January until the 
following March/ and many of the Senecas perished from 
exposure and starvation before the ensuing spring. Brant 
made strenuous efforts during the winter to induce the 
Senecas to settle in Canada under the protection of the 
British Government. The Mohawks, and a few from the 
other tribes, yielded to his solicitations ; but Kenjockety's 
father, who was intimately acquainted with the superior 
advantages of Western New York, successfully opposed 
the Mohawk chieftain, and prevailed upon the remainder 
to settle in the region watered by the Buffalo, Cattaraugus 
and Ton aw an da creeks. 

While listening to the eventful narrative of the aged 
Seneca, the writer could scarcely realize that the man was 
still living, who not only resided in this locality at the 
first advent of the white man, but who came here, with 
the Senecas themselves, to reap, by a permanent occupancy, 
the substantial fruits of their ancient conquests.^ 

At the time of the arrival of the Senecas, the striking 
feature of this locality was the predominance of the linden 
or basswood over all the other trees of the forest. They 
fringed both borders of the creek, and spread their broad 
foliage over its fertile bottoms. Seneca tradition tells us, 



• Merritt's MS. 

'Kenjockety died April 1, 1866, aged over one hundred years. 



3 8 THE NIA GAB A FE ON TIER. 

that in the season when the tree was in flower, the hunt- 
ing parties from the Genesee could hear, ere they reached 
the creek, the hum of the bee, as it gathered, in countless 
swarms, its winter stores from the abundant blossoms. 
Michaux, the French naturalist, who traveled through 
this region in 1807, states as a peculiarity of this locality, 
in his great work on the forest trees of America, that the 
basswood constituted two-thirds, and, in some localities, 
the whole of the forest between Batavia and New Am- 
sterdam.^ Early settlers saj', that the peninsula bounded 
by Main street, Bufialo Creek and the canal, embracing 
what is now intersected by Prime, Lloyd and Hanover 
streets, was almost exclusively covered with this tree. 
It was occasionally found more than eighty feet iiigh and 
four feet in diameter. Its giant trunks furnished at that 
convenient locality, a light and soft w^ood from which to 
fashion the Indian canoe, and a bark easily converted into 
various utensils useful in savage life. This bark formed 
the exclusive covering of the temporary huts, erected for 
the shelter of the hunting and fishing parties that fre- 
quented this region. Tlie Senecas, in conformity with 
their well-known custom, seized upon this marked pecu- 
liarity of the place, and called it Do'-syo-w«, a name 
strikingly euphonious in their tongue, meaning. The place 
of hasswoods. 

The origin of the name, Buffalo, has already been so 
thoroughly discussed in and out of this Society, that no 



^ N. American Sylva, Vol. III., p. 131 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 39 

attempt will be made to throw additional light upon the 
subject. The earliest occurrence of the name which I 
have been able to discover, is on a manuscript map in the 
British Museum, found in a collection called King George's 
Maps, formerly in liis Majesty's library. It is dated in 
1764, and embraces both banks of the Niagara River from 
Lake Erie to Black Rock. The American shore is repre- 
sented as entirely'' unsettled, covered with forest and bor- 
dered with sand hills. BufHilo Creek is laid down, bearing 
its present name. Its next occurrence is in the narrative 
of the captivity and residence of the Gilbert family among 
the Senecas in 1780-81, which was published in 1784. 
We next find it in the treaty of Fort Stanwix before 
alluded to. The Rev. Mr. Kirkland, in his journal of a 
visit to the Senecas in 1788,^ speaks of their "village on 
the Buffaloe," and from that time the name appears to 
have passed into general use. The Holland Company en- 
deavored to supplant it with the term " New Amsterdam," 
but our village fathers, with great good sense, rejected the 
substitute, together with the foreign names which the same 
company had imposed upon our streets. 

The Senecas, with a few kindred Onondagas andCayugas, 
on their arrival here, in 1780, established themselves on 
the banks of the Buffalo Creek. The former chose the 
south side, and the level bottoms beyond the present iron 
bridge, east of what is now known as " Martin's Corners." 
The Onondagas went higher up, as far as the elevated 



^ MS. Journal in N. Y. State Library. 
40 



40 THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 

table land, near where the southern Ebenezer village was 
subsequently located. The Cayugas settled north of the 
Onondagas, along that branch of the creek which bears 
their name. 

In these localities the tribes were found, when immigra- 
tion reached them ; and here they remained, dividing their 
time between hunting, fishing and the cultivation of the 
soil, until the encroachments of the white man diminished 
their game, and created a demand for their lands too eager 
and powerful to be resisted. We have seen, within a few 
years, the last of the Senecas abandon their ancient seats, 
on the confines of our city, some to locate on the adjacent 
Reservations, and others to seek " a wider hunting-ground " 
beyond the Mississippi. 

They left the graves of their fathers in the possession 
of the white man, and how has he fulfilled the trust? A 
visit to their rude and neglected cemetery will furnish the 
answer. The grave in which Red Jacket was laid by 
his mourning people, is empty .^ The headstone of the 
captive " White Woman," carried away by piecemeal, for 
relics, by the curious, no longer tells the simple story of 
her remarkable life. Pollard and Young King and White 
Seneca, and many others, whose names were once as house- 
hold words among us, all rest in unmarked graves. They 
were the friends of the founders of our city, when the 
Indians were strong and the white man weak. Those con- 



' His remains were stolen by a Chippewa. They were recovered 
by his family and removed to the Cattaraugus Reservation. 



THE NIAGARA FRONTIER. 41 

ditions are now reversed. Having crowded the living from 
their ancient seats and pleasant hunting-grounds, let us re- 
spect the graves and protect the ashes of their fixthers. One 
of their eloquent chiefs, De-jiZt'-non-da-weh-hoh, 2 he Pacifi- 
cator, known to the whites as Dr. Peter Wilson,^ has feel- 
ingly and reproachfully told us that " the bones of his 
people lie in exile in their own country." Would it not be 
an appropriate work for this Society, to initinte measure's 
for the permanent preservation of their dead ? The re- 
mains of such of their distinguished chiefs as can now be 
identified, should be removed, with the consent of their 
Nation, to our new cemetery. There, on the quiet banks 
of the Ga-noA'-gwa/it-geh,'^ in the shadow of the native 
forest, beneath the old oaks, where, within the memory of 
the living, their council fires burned, and their war-whoop 
rang,^ under the same protection that guards the white 
man's grave, they would rest in security, and the dust of 
our antagonistic races commingle undisturbed. 



* He died in March, 1872. 

^ The Seneca name of Kenjockety Creek. 

* Forest Lawn was owned, during tlie war of 1812, by Erastus 
Granger, then TJ. S. Indian agent. His residence was north of the 
tall poplars, not far from the Main street entrance to the cenieterj'^. 
The oak grove near by, was used by the Senecas for their councils 
at that period. They were our faithful allies, and rendered lis 
valuable assistance in the contest with Great Britain, 



42 THE NIA GAR A FRONTIER. 

APPENDIX TO THE FOREGOING ARTICLE. 



The following list embraces many of the early names that have 
been applied to some of our great lakes and rivers, and to a few 
prominent localities along their borders. Several of inferior note 
though of more local interest, are also given. The great diversity 
that has existed in the mode of spelling the geographical terms of 
the Iroquois, has given rise to much confusion and uncertainty. 
This has induced the writer to ailo])t, in reducing the Seneca names 
to English orthography, the admirable system invented by the Rev, 
Asher Wright, of the Cattaraugus Mission. That able missionary 
has published in the Seneca language, which he speaks and writes 
fluently, several works of much interest to the philologist, the fruit 
of his many years of successful labor among that people. The ac- 
knowledgments of the writer are justly due to him for his assistance 
in determining the orthography and signification of many of the 
names that occur in these pages ; also, to Dr. Peter Wilson, Nath- 
aniel T. Strong,^ and Nicholas H. Parker, all highly intelligent and 
cultivated members of the Iroquois family. 

The following is substantially the key to Mr, Wright's system. 
If the sounds of the letters and accents are strictly observed, a close 
approximation to the correct pronunciation will be reached : 

a sounded like a in fall. o sounded like o in note. 

a sounded like a in hat. u sounded like u in push. 

e sounded like e in they. ai sounded like i in pine. 

5 sounded like e in bet. iu soun.ded like u in pure. 

i sounded like i in machine. ch always soft as in chin. 

Italic h sounded like the h in the interjection oh ! when impa- 
tiently uttered ; approaching the sound of k, though not quite 
reaching it. 

When h comes after t or s it is separately sounded, 

Italic a and o represent nasal sounds. 

There are no silent letters, 

A repeated vowel only lengthens the sound. 

' N. T. Strong died January 4, 1872 ; Dr. Wilson, in March of the same year, 
and Mr. Wright, April 13, 1875. 



THE NI AG Alt A FRONTIER. 43 



SENECA NAMES WITH SIGNIFICATIONS. 



GaA-daA' geh. '■^ Fishing -place with a scoop-hasket.'''' Cayuga 
Creek, or nortli fork of Buffalo Creek. 

HaA-do'-ueh. " The place of Jane berries?^ Seneca Creek, or 
south fork of Buffalo Creek. 

Ga-e-na-dal/-daaA. " &late rock bottom.''^ Cazenovia Creek, or 
south fork of Buffalo Creek. 

Tga-is'-da-ni-yont. " The place of the suspended belV The 
Seneca Mission Houge. 

TgaA-sgoh'-sa-de/i. " The place of the falls.'''' Falls above Jack 
Berry town. 

Jii/ik'- do-waa/i'-geh. " The place of the crab-apple.'''' Cheek- 
to waga. 

De-as'-gwaA-da-ga'-neh. " The place of lamper-eel?'' Lancaster 
village, after a person of that name who resided there. 

Ga-yaA-gaawh'-doh. The Indian name of Old Smoke, who lived 
and died on the bank of Smoke's Creek. He led the Senecas at 
Wyoming. The name is now also applied to Smoke's Creek, and 
signifies " The smoke has disappeared.'''' 

De-dyo'-deA-neh'-sak-do. " A gravel bend.'''' Lake shore above 
Smoke's Creek. 

Jo-nya'-dih. " The other side of the flats.'''' Tifft's farm. 

De-yeh'-ho-ga-da-ses. " The oblique ford.'''' The old ford at the 
present iron bridge. 

De-yoh'-ho-grtA. " The forks of the river.'''' Junction of the Cayuga 
and Cazenovia Creeks. 

Tga'-non-da-ga'-yos-haA. " The old village.'''' The flats embracing 
Twitchell's farm. This is the site of the first village the Senecas 
built on Buffalo Creek. 

Ni-dyio'-nyaA-a'-ah. " Narroxo point.'''' Farmer's Brother's Point. 

Ga-noh'-hoA-geh. '* The place filled up.'''' Long Point in Canada, 



44 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 

and sometimes applied to Erie. In allusion to the Indian tradition, 
that The Great Beaver built a dam across Lake Erie, of which 
Presque Isle and Long Point ai'e the remains. 

Gah-gwah-ge'-ga-a«/i. " The residence of the Kah-hvoai^P 
Eighteen Mile Creek. Sometimes called Gah-gwa/t'-geA. 

Yo-da'-nyuh-gwa/i'. " A fishing place xoith hooJc-and-line.''^ 
Sandytown, the old name for the beach above Black Rock. 

Tga/t'-si-ya-deA. " Roj)e ferry.'''' Old ferry over Buffalo Creek. 

Tga-noh'-so-doA. " The place of houses^ Old village in the 
forks of Smoke's Creek. 

Dyo-ge'-o/i-ja-eA. " Wet grass.'''' Red Bridge. 

Dyos'-hoA. " The sidpher spring.''^ Sulpher Springs. 

De-dyo'-na-wa'-h. " The rij^ple.'''' Middle Ebenezer village. 

Dyo-naA'-da-ecA. " Hemlock elevation^ Upper Ebenezer village, 
formerly Jack Berrytown. 

Tga-des'. " Long prairie.''"' Meadows above Upper Ebenezer. 

Onon'-da/i-ge'-gaA geh. "■ The placeof the OnondagasP West 
end of Lower Ebenezer. 

Sha-ga-naA'-ga/i-geh. " The place of the Stochhridgesy East 
end of Lower Ebenezer. 

He-yout-gat-hwat' haA. " The picturesque location^ Cazenovia 
Bluff, east of Lower Ebenezer. 

Dyo-e'-oh-gwes. " Tall grass or flag island^ Rattlesnake Island. 

Dyu'-ne-ga-nooh'. " Cold Watery Cold Spring. 

GaAda'-ya-deA. " A place of misery.'''' Williamsville. In allu- 
sion to the open meadows at this place, which were very bleak in 
winter. Blacksmith says the name refers to the " open sky," where 
the path crossed the creek. 



THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 45 



EARLY NAMES APPLIED TO THE GREAT LAKES AND 

RIVERS AND TO SOME OF THE PROMINENT 

LOCALITIES ON THEIR BORDERS. 



Lake Ontario. 

Lac des Entouhonorons. Champlain, i, ed. 1G32, p. 336. So 
called after a nation living- south of the lake. 

St. Louis. Champlain, ed. 1632. Rel., 1640-41, p. 49. 

Lac Des Iroquois. Relation des Jesuites, 1635, p. 121. 

La Mer Douce. " The Fresh Sea:' Relation, 1639-40, p. 130. 

Ontario. '' Beautiful Lake:' Hennepin, p. 31. Rel, 1640-41, 
p. 49. 

Skanadario. " Beautiful Lake:' Hennepin, p. 42. 

Cadarackui. Colden, xvi. 

Frontenac. Hennepin, p. 40. 

Lakb Erie. 

Eri§. Relation, 1641, p. 71. 

Lac Du Chat. " Cat Lake:' Sanson's Map of 1651. 
Lac De Conty. Coronelli's Map of 1688. 
Oswego. N. Y. Colonial Documents, v, p. 694. 

Lake Huron. 
La Mer Douce. " The Fresh Sea:' Champlain, appendix, p. 8. 
Attigouantan. Champlain, i, p. 324. 
Kuregnondi. Sanson's Map of 1657. 
Lac Des Hurons. Relation, 1670-71, map. 
Lac D'Orleans. Coronelli's Map of 1688. 
Quatoghe. Colden, xvi. 
Caniatare. Colden, xvi. 



46 THE NIA GAR A FR ONTIER. 

Lake Michigan. 

Lac Des Puants. Champlain, 1632. 

Lac Des Illinois. Relation, 1669-70. Marquette's Map, 1674. 

St. Joseph. Father Allouez in 1675. 

Dauphin. Coronelli's Map of 1688. 

Michigonong. Hennepin, p. 53. 

La.ke Superior. 

Le Grand Lac. " The Great Lake:'' Champlain, 1632. 

Lac Superieur. *' Upper Lake.'''' Relation, 1660, p. 9. 

Lac De Tracy. Relation, 1667, p. 4. 

Lac De Conde. Le Clercq., p. 137. 

Niagara Falls. 

Saut d'eau. '* Waterfall:'' Charaplain's Map, 1613. 
Onguiaahra. Relation, 1640-41, p. 65. Applied to river only. 
Ongiara. Sanson's Map of 1651. Ducreux, 1660. 
Unghiara. Bancroft's U. S., vol. iii, p. 128. 
Och-ni-a-gara. Evans' Map, 1765. 
lagara. Colden's Five Nations, appendix, p. 15. 
0-ni-a-ga-rah. Colden's Five Nations, p. 79. 
0-ny-a-kar-rah. Macauley's N. Y., vol. ii, p. 177. 




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